We last left the long-suffering man killer, now suspended South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg with our post, SD Attorney General Ravnsborg impeached by South Dakota House. Next stop: the state senate.
So what's the buzz in South Dakota media?
On Wednesday, Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve reported for the Argus Leader in Senate picks prosecutors, date for South Dakota AG Jason Ravnsborg's impeachment trial:
Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo will serve as the lead prosecutor in the Senate impeachment trial of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.
The decision comes less than 24 hours after Ravnsborg was impeached by the House of Representatives for conduct related to the traffic fatality of a pedestrian in 2020.
The Senate will hold a two-day trial starting on June 21.
Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said the trial dates accommodate the schedules of all 35 members of the state senate. It also starts just two days before the South Dakota Republican Party Convention in Watertown, where delegates will nominate their next candidate for attorney general.
Being assisted in the trial by Clay County State's Attorney Alexis Tracy, Vargo comes to the new role as special prosecutor with familiarity to the Ravnsborg case.
That's because he was part of the original team of state's attorneys that Hyde County Deputy State's Attorney Emily Sovell used in determining what charges should be brought. However, Sovell and Vargo stopped working together prior to Hyde County handing down three misdemeanors. Ravnsborg later took a plea deal, agreeing to plead no contest to two charges while a third was dropped.
"He knows the evidence," Schoenbeck said.
Vargo told the Argus Leader that his service to the Legislature comes at the request of Schoenbeck, who reached out to him to see if he would handle the trial.
"It's a simple as that," he said. "I did not lobby for it."
Vargo will not charge the state for his time, though he will be reimbursed for any expenses he incurs conducting the work. . . .
Perhaps that's what's giving the hapless Attorney General hope. We find it peculiar when a news story on this topic doesn't name the victim Ravnsborg mowed down on the shoulder.
At the Mitchell Republic, Forum News Service's Hunter Dunteman reports in Impeached Ravnsborg seeks vindication by SD Senate in June trial after 11th-hour appeal to legislators fails:
The South Dakota Attorney General will face an impeachment trial before the state’s Senate in June, legislative leaders announced Wednesday, something Jason Ravnsborg believes will clear him from wrongdoing.
Just one day after the conclusion of a special session of the South Dakota House of Representatives, when lawmakers impeached Ravnsborg for two separate articles of crimes and malfeasance in office, Senate leaders are already gearing up for an impeachment trial.
The Senate will meet June 21 for the first gathering of a two-day trial, according to a calendar item published by the South Dakota Legislative Research Council. On Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, told the Argus Leader that the late-June dates were one of the earliest opportunities senators could gather in Pierre.
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, no agenda or calendar items were added to the Legislature’s website, but the Legislative Research Council told the Mitchell Republic that documents regarding the trial should become publicly available by the end of the day. . . .
being called upon to do so by Gov. Kristi Noem, the South Dakota Fraternal Order of Police, the South Dakota Sheriffs’ Association, the South Dakota Police Chiefs’ Association and more — issued a statement in the hours following his impeachment Tuesday, indicating he believes the Senate will not remove him from office.
“The House of Representatives voted, and I respect the process, but I look forward to the Senate trial, where I believe I will be vindicated," Ravnsborg said Tuesday. . . .
Read the whole hot mess at the Republic.
At the Rapid City Journal, there's the Associated Press story, Pennington County state's attorney named lead prosecutor in impeachment trial:
The leader of the state Senate named Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo the lead prosecutor for the impeachment trial of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg on Wednesday and scheduled it for late June.
The announcement from Sen. Lee Schoenbeck comes one day after House lawmakers voted to impeach Ravnsborg for a car crash that killed Joe Boever.
Ravnsborg is the first official to be impeached in South Dakota history and must take leave until the Senate decides whether to remove him from office.
Schoenbeck set the trial for June 21-22. He said Vargo will argue in favor of the two articles of impeachment — one for crimes that led to the death of Boever and the other for malfeasance in office. Clay County State’s Attorney Alexis Tracy will assist in the prosecution.
Ravnsborg will get the chance to present his case. He said after the impeachment vote that he believes he will be vindicated.
The attorney general was driving home from a Republican dinner in September 2020 when he struck and killed Boever, who was walking along a rural highway. Ravnsborg pleaded no contest last year to a pair of traffic misdemeanors in the crash, including making an illegal lane change. He has cast Boever’s death as a tragic accident.
“This isn’t like a criminal trial. It’s a political trial," he said. "There’s no reason to have the senators sit on the floor and start reading reports. That should all be done beforehand. I believe it will be.”
Vargo was part of the team of state’s attorneys that Hyde County Deputy State’s Attorney Emily Sovell used in determining what criminal charges should be brought. Although he left the group before Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors, Schoenbeck said Vargo has a firm grasp of the evidence.
Vargo said Schoenbeck asked him to oversee the trial.
“It’s a simple as that,” Vargo said. “I did not lobby for it.”
The trial starts two days before the Republican convention in Watertown, where delegates will pick the party’s attorney general candidate for November’s general election.
We'll be keeping an eye out for whatever stories creep out of the sagebrush between now and the first day of summer.
Photo: Nick Nemec, the cousin of Joseph Boever, stands with the wedding photo of Boever in the South Dakota House gallery on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, before the body voted for impeachment. Via AP: Jorge Encinas/ Capital Journa.
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